Siege of Hasedō
The Siege of Hasedō (長谷堂城の戦い) was one of a series of battles fought in the far north of Japan's main island of Honshū (the Tōhoku region) contemporaneous with the famous and decisive campaigns between Tokugawa Ieyasu and Ishida Mitsunari further south.
| Siege of Hasedō | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Sengoku period | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
Eastern Forces loyal to Tokugawa Ieyasu: Forces of Mogami Yoshiaki and Date Masamune |
Western Forces loyal to Ishida Mitsunari: Forces of Uesugi Kagekatsu | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Mogami Yoshiaki Date Masamune Rusu Masakage Magoichi Saika Shimura Takaharu |
Uesugi Kagekatsu Naoe Kanetsugu Maeda Toshimasu Suibara Chikanori Amakasi Kagetsugu Kamiizumi Yasutsuna | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
|
Mogami: 7,000 Date: 3,000 | 25,000-30,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 623 killed | 1580 killed | ||||||
Background
Over the course of the year 1600, Naoe Kanetsugu, a general loyal to Ishida Mitsunari, would lead a campaign in Tōhoku, which included the siege of Hasedō castle, near Yamagata, which was his ultimate goal. Hasedō was held by Mogami Yoshiaki and the castle garrison led by Shimura Takaharu and backed by a Tokugawa-loyal army of the Date clan.
Battle
Thirty thousand of Uesugi's men moved towards Yamagata from the north while Naoe Kanetsugu began his siege on Hasedō. Having received reinforcements of 100 horsemen and 200 arquebusiers, he laid siege to Hasedō for fourteen days before an army under Date Masamune and Rusu Masakage arrived to relieve the castle.
Date Masamune broke through "Keiji" Maeda Toshimasu's forces at the central garrison, but more Uesugi reinforcements arrived to continue the siege of the castle.
Naoe Kanetsugu decided to head for the front lines, leaving the defense of the north garrison to Uesugi Kagekatsu;
Date's general Magoichi Saika decided to head for the north garrison as Masamune relieved his uncle in Hasedo Castle.
Rusu Masakage led the relief force to the castle, where they defeated Kagekatsu, and they also defeated the Uesugi generals Suibara Chikanori and Amakasi Kagetsugu as they attempted to penetrate the castle's defenses.
Masamune pushed on towards the Uesugi main camp, and Kanetsugu made preparations to withdraw to the southwest. Keiji Maeda reappeared in an attempt to guard Kanetsugu's retreat, but Masamune reached both of them at the main camp. He first defeated Keiji, and he then proceeded to defeat Kanetsugu before he could escape. The Uesugi army was forced to withdraw.
A small besieging force remained, and fighting continued, in which Naoe's general Kamiizumi Yasutsuna was killed.
Shortly afterwards, however, news arrived of Tokugawa Ieyasu's victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, and so Naoe called a full withdrawal of all his forces back to Yonezawa, putting an end to Uesugi's campaigns in the north.
References
- Turnbull, Stephen (1998). The Samurai Sourcebook. London: Cassell & Co.